Plan for district offices to save costs

Education stakeholders have mixed feelings about the department’s plan to reduce its district offices from 23 to 12.

While Bhisho’s portfolio committee of education officials and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) view the downsizing as a positive and cost-saving move, the South South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) is skeptical about the implications.

The Dispatch last week carried MEC Mandla Makupula’s announcement that the reduction of districts was a done deal that would happen before the end of the financial year (March).

Details of the plan show that parts of King William’s Town education district will merge with East London to form Buffalo City Metro education district, while Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth will merge to form Nelson Mandela Metro district.

The details also show that:

Libode and Lusikisiki districts will form part of OR Tambo East, while Qumbu and Mthatha will merge to form OR Tambo West district;

Amathole district will be divided into two with Butterworth and Idutywa forming Amathole East district and parts of King William’s Town and Fort Beaufort, Amathole West;

lMount Frere and Bizana will join Alfred Nzo East, while Maluti and Matatiele districts will form Alfred Nzo West;

In Chris Hani around the Queenstown area Cofimvaba and Ngcobo will form Chris Hani East district, while Queenstown and Lady Frere will fall under Chris Hani West; and

Mount Fletcher and Sterkspruit will merge to form the Joe Gqabi education district while Graaff Reinet and Grahamstown will join the Sarah Baartman district.

Makupula said the plan now only awaited the approval of the department of public service and administration before being implemented fully in April.

Department spokesman Mali Mtima said the mergers would improve service delivery and assist in capacitating previously understaffed districts, “while technical support to schools will also be easily manageable”.

Education portfolio committee chairman Fundile Gade said the reduction of districts from 23 to 12 “will go a long way” in saving state resources.

Sadtu's provincial administrator Chris Mdingi said the union “welcomed the move, but with some reservations and conditions”.

Mdingi said: “We are not fundamentally opposed to the idea, but concerned about its implementation”.

Cosas provincial secretary Francisco Dyantyi supported Gade saying the move would “go a long way in restoring and improving co-ordination between the districts and the schools”.